France Travel During Christmas 2022
 

Hello,
We are a family of 3 living in NYC and are planning to visit France during Christmas break 2022. Our dates of stay will be from Dec 22 - Jan 1st, 2023. We would like to spend 3 days and the New Years Eve in Paris. I was looking for some Itinerary suggestion that would be conducive for the holiday time- assuming Dec 25th & Jan 1st everything will be closed. Since it will be during the Holidays would also like to include Strasbourg - Alsace/Lorraine region if that will make sense. we are flexible to rent a car if that's needed anywhere during the trip. Will it be fun to visit Strasbourg after 25th Dec between Dec 26-29th? Will it be wise to spend Dec 25th in Paris? Also, will Southern France be a good idea? Please suggest !

We were in Paris for the first 2 weeks of December last year. This was our third trip to Paris at Christmas - our favorite time of year there. Friends joined us for a several days and then took a train to Strasbourg for a few days. These are our best friends we've known for 57 years (college roommate, student body president) They wished they hadn't gone to Strasbourg due to the heavy security (bombings in the past). Soldiers all around with big guns. One of them stopped the "wife" (conservative looking, 76 years old) and told her to unpack her suitcase/backpack and display all the stuff she had - out on the street at night. They were happy to return to Paris.

There is more information written about Paris than any other city on earth, I think. Just get a guide book or two & start reading. Get the Michelin Green Guide. There is stuff to see for every interest in Paris - I do not know your interests. However, make sure you visit Galleries Lafayette & Printemps (they are next to each other) and view their lighting displays at night, windows during the day, and also the interiors - all decorated for Christmas.

Stu Dudley.

When living in the UK, we had a week one year over Christmas in Strasbourg. Same time another year but in Nice. The weather of course varies year to year but Strasbourg was extremely cold - water fountains frozen solid - but Nice was cool, not cold, with sunshine. We preferred Nice overall to Strasbourg. You can catch the TGV (train) to either place, book ahead for the best prices. An excellent website for everything to do with trains is
https://www.seat61.com/

We didn't have a car in either Strasbourg or Nice. We caught the train from Paris to Strasbourg and also day trips by train to Colmar and Obernai. Both were very quiet over the Christmas period. Strasbourg is attractive but fairly small. For the Nice trip, we also caught the train from Paris but it's a long trip, flying would be quicker. From Nice, we did day trips by bus and train to lots of places (St Paul de Vence, Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, Monaco, etc). It was fairly easy and cheap to get around.

I would start a daily itinerary and write down where you would spend each night. So two nights gives you one full day, three nights is two full days etc. Allow one day in your plan for when you move on to a new place. See what you can manage in the time you have. Could you fly into Paris and out of Nice to save backtracking?

After December 24th, Christmas is basically finished in Alsace. One thing you might want to consider is Matz, which has an excellent Chrsitmas market and no security overload.

Is the 22nd the day you arrive or the day you leave the US?

Either way, suggest you head straight to Strasbourg and stay there until the morning of the 26th. Book a hotel that has a decent restaurant serving on Christmas eve and Christmas day. Reserve tables with them.

On the 22nd, relax, take in the city’s market, wander around. Get a good night’s sleep. On thr 23rd, day trip to Metz, Nancy or Colmar for their markets and sights. Stick to Strasbourg on the 24th. Have dinner.

Head to Paris on the 26th, enjoy your time there. Day trip if desired to places that interest you and are open.

Ditto with StuDudly. We were in Paris the first ten days of December this year and it was magical! I'm not too big of a fan of the Christmas Markets but the food and drink offerings were amazing! The one at Tulleries Garden had a champagne bar!

I will never be able to go back to Paris again when it isn't a twinkling fairyland! It's just so beautiful! Hotel de Ville, Galleries Lafayette, Avenue Montaigne, Champs Elysees are not to be missed!

Thank you. I think it's a better idea probably to skip Strasbourg after 25th .

Thank you Kay. My initial plan was to fly into Paris and fly out of Nice. But then since it's a holiday week, and Paris being more of the center of attraction so thought of concentrating on it and skipping Nice. But if Nice is fully active like Paris probably diving the time would be a better idea.

Thank you Kerouac! Will Matz have the Christmas market after 25th ?

In 2021, the Metz Christmas market continued until December 30th. Looking at this year's calendar, I would say that the market will continue until January 1st.

Thank you WeisserTee! I see a ray of hope in your response. We plan to reach Paris on 22nd Dec. Do you suggest to take a train straight away to Strasbourg from the airport or rent a car and drive? Also will there be anything to do or anywhere to go on 24th or 25th if we have a car? Just weighing in different options?

By the time you have got to an airport and gone through all the hassle involved then flown and landed and found your way into the city the train is probably not such a terrible option time-wise, and certainly better for the environment and more relaxing. If you book it right it can be cheaper too.
Strasbourg is awful with a car, as are most cities, especially in winter.

Hi, I’m not much help but wanted to share our plans as they seem to overlap. We will be coming in from Texas to Munich on the 17th and have decided to book a river boat cruise for the nights of 23rd and 24th out of Strasbourg that will visit Colmar and another port before returning to Strasbourg on Christmas Day around 4 pm. Our current plan is to catch a train once we disembark on the evening of the 25th for Paris.

Our thought process around booking a cruise in the middle of our vacation was that it enabled us to see a couple of different areas but also guaranteed we had good meals for Christmas Eve and day with activities pre-planed through the cruise line and we didn’t end up in a hotel room with nothing to do for a couple days.

Hope you have a wonderful trip.

Thank you JR!

France During the Holidays
 

Hello all,

After reading all of your suggestion we have modified our dates from December 21st - December 30th. We plan to reach Strasbourg on Dec 21st and be there till Dec 24th. The rest of the time we want to be in Paris. From most suggestions I gather that from Christmas eve the Alsace region's festivities are on decline. So in this reference I would like to know :

• Do trains run on Christmas Day from Strasbourg to Paris
• Is Paris a better option for activities on Christmas Day
• Are any restaurants opened on Christmas Day in Paris
• Does there any concert taking place on Dec 25th

Things are open in France during the holidays, unlike the UK. However, the sooner you buy a train ticket for the Christmas holidays, the better. Holiday tickets went on sale yesterday in France and the system crashed a few times since there is so much demand for travel. However, on December 25th itself, it should be easier to travel.